SHIKHA DUGGAL
Let’s be honest—Mathura is a stunning region but when actress Disha Patani arrived in the “Krishna Nagri”: she saw some real natural wonders. She flocked to a very special area that is an elephant conservation and care centre.
This advent really became a source of fascination for us and with all the due hassle, we followed up with Disha and finally, she agreed to continue to advocate her voice, for a voiceless animal and share with us her survival instincts inside that conversation centre on a telephonic call. We were very pleased! “I was spending time with a lot of resident elephants over there. I was feeling touched, moved because I never knew that there is a conservation centre like this that is actually doing so much for our Asian elephants because I never knew about a conservation centre like this.”
Seems like as populations grow, consumption impacts increase, and communities become more mobile, that’s when these conversation centres come into play. Disha saw how thoughtfully they addressed her interactions with the elephants that share her environment. She also said how they made sure there is always a place for elephants to flourish beyond human meddling in crowded landscapes. Habitat protection is just part of it–they also aggressively battle illegal animal trade and poaching, and celebrities like Disha, for instance, advocate for populations of free wildlife both within the legal and legislative systems, as well as in communities most impacted by human-wildlife conflict.
She continued exclusively to us, “They were not at all stern with the elephants, they were being treated with so much of compassion that again it moved me. I was given the opportunity to cut fruits for them and realised on a day-to-day basis they at least cut 300 kgs of fruits to feed them. Out of those fruits I tried to make a smoothie for them so that
they can drink it and it worked! So whatever training was given to them at that care centre, they were reciprocating it very well. I was told that they have gone through a lot many years of abuse, so post that it was getting very difficult for the conservation centre to bring them to normalcy. But now they have recovered and we all were taking care of them and I was so happy to be a part of it too by travelling all the way to Mathura.”
She also tells us about the conservation projects done by the centre over there, for example, they have rescued thousands of injured animals, from the smallest birds to towering bull elephants.Their rescue teams operate in bustling urban spaces as well as in rural and remote locations. Disha further elaborates, “I am an avid animal lover—so this I was very adventurous to travel all the way to Mathura and didn’t give a second thought about it.
It’s not that I haven’t seen an elephant before but when you live in the same habitat you understand why are they big and why are they considered so larger than life. Because deep down they are very soft and gentle, that’s what I understood by spending a day with them! So now openly being biased, I have a special spot for elephants in my heart. I still can’t forget their magnificence at all.”
She was so exhilarated and said, “They took me to an elephant hospital: that’s how I understood how they are given that special care everybody was talking about. Moving
ahead, I was taken to the bathing spot of the elephants. And then we literally took a walk with all of them together inside the conservation centre. I was feeling like a queen! They were being gently fed, they were groomed and just not left like that—that care centre actually engages than in a lot more fun wildlife activities.”
The conservation centre actually came up with a unique plan to use radio collars on the wild elephant herd so as to issue timely alerts to the villages, by effectively tracking the elephants’ movements when they were trying to rescue them. “There was an elephant named Susie who wasn’t able to eat and chew the fruits that I was cutting for her. That is why I thought of making a smoothie for her so that she can at least have something! You will be surprised to know that even elephants love to have treats and that’s how you can engage them. I was a part of all this. But something that I cannot forget is, whenever they used to walk as a herd a true sense of freedom was to be seen. They really are those innocent souls regardless of their gigantic body size! And I was totally feeling liberated in all ways over there.”
